If you’re a fan of narrative crafting RPGs set in a 1930s world of hidden gods and secret histories, then you’ll be excited to learn that Weather Factory, the “bizarre art collective” behind the award-winning indie hit Cultist Simulator, is set to release its upcoming game, BOOK OF HOURS, on Steam and GOG* on August 17th, 2023.
The announcement comes with a new trailer that showcases the game’s gently gothic narrative sim, where players restore a crumbling occult library while curating their collection of grimoires and arcana. As you acquire, restore, and catalogue occult books, scrolls, and curiosities, you’ll explore the Secret Histories and the pantheon of Hours that rules them.
The game’s key features include the sweet peace of organising books and customising your new home, all while unpeeling centuries of history from the occult stones around you. You’ll study the nine Wisdoms and conquer the nine Elements of the Soul, guide visitors who come seeking your assistance, choosing their paths and stories, and restore a vast crumbling edifice built on the foundations of an ancient abbey. You’ll also wrest your past from obscurity by choosing from nine different Legacies, each offering different opportunities.
BOOK OF HOURS started off as a jokey tweet but has since evolved into a spiritual successor to the beloved Cultist Simulator. “There’s a tapestry in one of the bedrooms called ‘The Foundation of the Sun’,” said Alexis Kennedy, one half of Weather Factory’s husband-and-wife team. “If you investigate it, the game tells you: ‘Long ago in this country, one did not build a church without first sacrificing a white bull to the Sun-in-Rags.’ And you get a Memory of Light that you can use in your studies. There’s also a thing called a snootle jar, and there’s also an umbrella stand and if you investigate it, the game tells you ‘It’s like an armoury for not getting pneumonia.’ So you won’t actually be building churches but you hopefully also won’t be getting pneumonia, and you will be snootling.”
“Bugger this for a game of Soldiers,” said Lottie Bevan, the one who isn’t Alexis Kennedy. “We’ve been developing it on and off since 2019. Let’s launch this goddamn library game.”
If you’re intrigued by this game’s unique concept and setting, you can add BOOK OF HOURS to your wishlist on Steam, and don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments below or in the Gaming.Buzz Community Discord.